Susan Lent was present from Waste Management to discuss the
contract extension for garbage removal with the Village of Thurston.Susan said she has been in contact with our
solicitor, Jeff Feyko, and has expressed to him that she feel this contract is
valid and legal.Re-bidding this
contract would mean we wouldn’t get as good a rate as we have now.She said there are 133 houses being billed
for service and the total amount of the billings isn’t enough to warrant the
$15,000 rule for taking bids.She
believes they have done a great job and would like to keep servicing the
village.

Aaron shared Jeff’s comments from previous phone calls:

1)Jeff is not intending the have the village residents
incur a higher cost

2)He feels this should be bid competitively, and
Council is taking a chance by not doing so

3)Jeff will not be offended if Council decides not to
take Jeff’s advice

4)The new contract should be by legislation, not by
motion

5)He’s heard of previous litigation that had no issues
with their extension wording

6)Total of the invoicing does come to $15,000, which
doesn’t require bidding

Nona made a motion to have Jeff prepare legislation to
continue the current garbage disposal service for another 3 years.Roger second.JoAnn called for roll call vote:

Robert –
Yes

Nona – Yes

Roger – Yes

J.T.–Yes

Susan said the price would be good for three years.

JoAnn turned the meeting over to Chief Mike Jackson.Council briefly discussed the special meeting
that didn’t happen last Monday night due to lack of attendance by Village
Council.JoAnn said she was upset
because she and council didn’t have a copy of the fire truck specs like the
township trustees did. Mike said the
trustees didn’t have a copy, but that one of them grabbed his copy that night.

Mike said they found a 2002 truck in West Virginia that
they’d like to purchase.It’s a demo
model.The price tag was $280,000,
however the asking price is $215,000.With options he wanted, it would be $245,000.It has a 6-man cab and a 1000-gallon
tank.It will combine the old engine and
rescue into one unit.Mike would like a
motion by council to allow him to put the specs out for bid.JoAnn asked if all the firemen wanted the
truck.Mike said yes.JoAnn wanted to know why there weren’t all
here.Mike said they didn’t need to be.JoAnn asked who made the decisions.Mike said, “I do.”JoAnn said “Your one person out of all them
that’s up there?”Jamie Carroll said
they get the feedback from everybody.Mike said that’s why he and his guys are there.JoAnn said she’s been getting a little
feedback, too; that everybody doesn’t want this new fire truck.Josh Friesner said that you’re gonna have one
or two people who may not agree, but everyone has seen the plans for the truck
and Chief Jackson got everyone’s opinion on the purchase.

JT had an issue with who was invited to go look at fire
trucks.He was concerned that none of
the Council members were asked to go.A
spat ensued regarding who was invited and who should have been invited.JT said a Trustee was asked to go, but none
of Council was asked.JoAnn told Mike
the next time they plan a trip, come to Council and ask them if they are going
to pay for gas reimbursement.She
doesn’t want a call asking if it’s okay to be reimbursed.Jamie said he had not asked to be
reimbursed.JoAnn told him to, “Keep
quiet, Jamie, I wasn’t talking to you.I’m making a statement.I am
talking; I have the floor.”JoAnn said
she got a telephone call and someone wanted to know if it was okay for them to
go and then the town would pay for it.JoAnn said, “I do not make the decisions, so please don’t ask nobody to
call me about you guys getting reimbursed for gas.That is Council, no me.”Mike said he did not ask anyone to call
her.She said, “Well, I was
called.”Aaron said, “I called on my own
accord.”JoAnn said, “Well, you know
that I don’t make the decisions.Council
does.”Aaron said he wouldn’t call her
again.JoAnn said she hoped not.JT said he didn’t mean to cause an
argument.He just thinks it would be a
good idea when there is a big purchase like this, Council should be asked to be
involved.Mike said, “JT, when we
planned this, we hadn’t seen you for two months, because you had personal
issues; you weren’t around; we hadn’t even seen you.You don’t have a phone to call you.”JT said he was right, but he lives a block
away from the firehouse, and he could have stopped.

Nona said it would have been good to ask someone on the
council if they wanted to go.Mike said
he didn’t mean to offend anyone, they had only made the plans to go a week
ahead of time, and Council only meets once a month.JoAnn said to come and ask Council next time,
she didn’t want to be put on the spot.Mike said he didn’t mean to put her on the spot.They just kept their receipts just in case;
it’s no big deal.They found the truck,
and two days later they went down to look at it.Roger said he doesn’t know anything about
putting out fires and he trusts Mike and his guys to check out these types of
things and report back to Council.Mike
said there was one person on the department who had an issue with the truck.They are here to seek permission to get
bids.He would also like Council to put
down $50,000 out of the Fire Fund as a down payment on the truck.

JT made a motion to allow Mike to seek bids for new fire
truck and to add enough to the temporary appropriations for 2003 to allow for a
$50,000 down payment, if necessary.Roger second.JoAnn asked Mike if
all of his officers wanted to put the $50,000 down.He said yes.JoAnn called for a roll call vote.

Robert –
Yes

Nona – Yes

JT – Yes

Roger – Yes

JoAnn asked Aaron if the 3 outstanding checks from April
2002 had cleared our checking account yet.Aaron said yes.Mike King had put
them in his desk drawer and forgot about them.He deposited them this month.

JoAnn asked Mike about the mileage sheet she just got
yesterday.She’s been asking for it
since November 25th.Mike
said he found it buried in his inbox.JoAnn asked whom the title gets made out to.Mike said he gave that information to Aaron
earlier today.JoAnn said she wished
things would be done quicker.She was
afraid the county was driving it under our insurance.Mike said they are not driving it.The county assured Mike that they would not
drive it anywhere until they had the title for it.JoAnn said, “Well, anybody can tell you
that.”Mike said he trusts the Sheriff’s
office.

JoAnn said she’d asked for a list of pool water users.He said Mike King hasn’t given the list to
him yet.As soon as he tracks him down,
he’ll get him to put some time up there and get that for her.JoAnn asked about the gas slips.Mike said Aaron has them.JoAnn said she was never informed about them
until tonight when she was asked.JoAnn
said she asked for them, and she’s been asking for them.Mike said he’s been turning them in to
Aaron.JoAnn said, “No communication, I
guess.”

Mike said that he has some personnel that are not working
with the department as a group, but working against them.He said he hopes to have the person taken
care of quickly.JoAnn said, “Well, I
think some of your officers has really, I just don’t know how to say it, has talked
and talked and talked but still they’re your officers.Huey was one of the main guys up there, and
he run the place.And you don’t have
that now, even with your officers; some of them.”She said she heard he’s putting people in who
don’t come to meetings.Mike said he’s
not putting anyone in who is not coming to meetings.He’s got one person already in who’s not
coming to meetings.JoAnn said, “And
they’re supposed to be an officer?”Mike
said he’d be taking care of that real shortly.She said she heard he wasn’t coming long before he was an officer.Mike said he didn’t know whom she was talking
about.Everyone he’s put in as an
officer has been participating well; except for a couple who had been off for a
while.He brought up Greg Grube and him
being off due to accident.JT asked Mike
if he was going to appoint an officer to fill Greg’s position.Mike said no.JoAnn said, “JT, you’re not gonna be an officer, forget it.”JT said he didn’t want to be an officer.

JoAnn said Kathy from the solicitor’s office called and
wanted to know how much we were going to sell the 1981 Ambulance to Fairfield
County for.Mike said one dollar.JoAnn asked who approved that.Mike said Village Council agreed to donate
the truck, but the County said there has to be a minimum charge of $1.00 for
it.Mike said we need to send an invoice
to them.Aaron will prepare it.

Mike asked if we heard back from Jeff regarding the sale of
the 1978 Ford Pump to Greenfield Township.Aaron read Jeff’s response regarding the sale of property to another
public entity.Basically, Jeff said it
was alright to sell it to Greenfield Township without competitive bidding.

JT made a motion to prepare legislation to sell the 1978
Ford Pumper to Greenfield Township for $1,500.Robert second.All yea.

Mike said they now don’t want to sell the 1962 GMC grass
truck that they previously wanted to sell.This is due to historical significance.It will stay in service as a grass truck.He said they are going to repair the valve
that is busted.Council agreed to that
decision.

Nona asked about Santa Claus being up at the firehouse, and
why they didn’t pass out candy at Christmas.Mike said they have an outdated list of people to deliver to.Mike asked if there was a list we could give
him so they could update their records.

Mike is trying to put together maps of water and sewer lines
for the Village.Lowell said that Moline
Drive is the only new street.

Nona made a motion to approve the December 2002
minutes.Roger second.All yea.

Nona made a motion to approve the December 2002 financial
statement.Robert second.All yea.

Robert made a motion to waive the 3-reading rule and declare
an emergency for Ordinance # 2003-2.Roger second.All yea.

Nona moved to adopt Ordinance # 2003-2, An Ordinance
Authorizing the Private Sale of Surplus and Unused Village Property and the
Declaration of an Emergency.Roger
second.All yea.

JT made a motion to waive the 3-reading rule and declare an
emergency for Ordinance # 2003-3.Roger
second.All yea.

JT moved to adopt Ordinance # 2003-3, An Ordinance
Authorizing the Mayor and Clerk-Treasurer to Enter Into an Engineering Contract
with M*E Companies, Inc. for the Position of Village Engineer and the
Declaration of an Emergency.Roger
second.All yea.

Nona was upset with JT that he’s so concerned about Long
Street, but nothing is being done about the drainage problems in front of her
house.She’s been there 15 years, and
Council has never offered anything to be done for her.JT asked why she’s just bringing it up now to
him.Nona said because he said Long
Street “has to be done.”JT said High
Street has drains.Nona said there are
drains, but they don’t do any good.JT
said every spring, starting last year, he’s been using a fire truck to try to
clean out the drains.She said he’d
never done the one in front of her house.JT said come spring, he’d make sure he does the one in front of her house.Nona said she’s lived in water, and had bad
health and it’s not good for her to live there.JT suggested she move.JoAnn said
the kids are causing the problem with the drains.Nona said she wasn’t going to move.JT said she could vote for or against the
water, he’s saying we screwed up and they don’t have drains on Long Street.Those people have to deal with flooding in
their living rooms.JoAnn said they’ve
had flood problems for years, and they’ve never come and asked for anything
before this last year.JT said he’s been
told they were going to sue.JoAnn said
let them sue.JT said if we get sued,
he’s going to resign.JoAnn said she
hears complaints of lawsuits all the time.JT said if we’re not going to do anything, then why is there a Council,
and why is there a Village?JoAnn said
the residents of Long Street never came and asked for anything until after the
problem with the paving.JT said that at
least he came.JoAnn said she never knew
there weren’t any drains up there.Roger
agreed.JT said we need plans or maps
that show the drains in the Village.Council
continued discussing the issue that we don’t have the funds to put in
drains.

JT said Long Street is his main concern.We need to get an engineer to tell us what
needs to be done.JoAnn said we don’t
have enough money to do it.

JoAnn asked if Council wanted to keep the meeting dates the
same as it has been in the past.Everyone agreed to keep the same.

Roger made a motion to nominate Robert Ortman as Council
President for 2003.Nona second.All yea.

JoAnn said someone called about a handicapped sign, but
won’t come to the meeting.

JT made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss
personnel issues at the fire department.Robert second.All yea.The time is 8:45 p.m.

Roger made a motion to come out of Executive Session at 9:12
p.m.Nona second.All yea.

JT made a motion to have Aaron contact the Village Solicitor
and ask him to put a higher priority on the issue of disciplinary action that
can be taken towards the Fire Chief.Nona second.All yea.

JoAnn told Aaron she didn’t mean anything against him
regarding the mileage reimbursement argument held previously in the
meeting.She said they should have come
to Council when they want something.Aaron said he didn’t ask me to call her; he was just affording JoAnn the
respect to ask her.JoAnn said she
doesn’t make the decision.

Robert said there should be an increase of pay for the
Council, Board of Public Affairs, and the Mayor.

JT made a motion to have the Solicitor prepare legislation
that would raise the Mayor’s salary from $550 per year to $250.00 per
month.Robert second.All yea.

Robert –
Yes

Nona – Yes

Roger – Yes

JT – Yes

Council decided to table the discussion for raising the pay
for Council and Board of Public Affairs pending further discussion.Aaron explained that the pay raises they were
discussing would not go into effect until the next term started.He verified with the Village Solicitor, and
in-term pay increases are illegal for anyone other than the Clerk-Treasurer.JoAnn disagreed.

JT brought up Long Street.JT asked if we could get our engineer on it right away.We’ll have to get the contract to M·E
first.Roger and Nona said they hadn’t
heard anymore about it.

Aaron asked Council what type of soda pop they would like to
see in the refrigerator.Those
mentioned:Decaf Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, and
Mt. Dew.

Roger said the Thurston High Heritage Association has
continued to do some work in the building.JT said we should consider painting the outside of the Municipal
Building.No one agreed.Aaron said Bob Black was talking about having
us move everything from this side of the building to the other side where
they’ve just finished the work.Then
they will do the same restoration on this side of the building.JoAnn said she’d like to move out of this
place.Roger said we should build a new
building.Robert said you either spend
the money to renovate here, or spend the money on a new building.Roger said we should build a new
building.Larry Kahle has never returned
JoAnn’s call about the price of the property just to the west of the Municipal
Building.JT said we should fix Long
Street first.Roger said if we’re going
to spend $20,000 on our building, we’re further ahead to spend it on a new
building.

JT made a motion to waive the 3-reading rule and declare an
emergency for Resolution # 2003-1.Roger
second.All yea.

Roger moved to adopt Resolution # 2003-1, An Interim
Appropriation Resolution for Current Expenses and Other Expenditures of the
Village of Thurston for the First Quarter of the Fiscal Year 2003 (January 1,
2003 to March 31, 2003) and the Declaration of an Emergency.JT second.All yea.

Since there was no other business to address, JT made a
motion to pay bills and adjourn.Robert
second.All yea.